The essays in this volume cover the whole of the period in which Rome dominated the Mediterranean world. The belief shared by all the contributors is that the Roman empire is best understood from the standpoint of the Mediterranean world looking in to Rome, rather than from Rome looking out. The volume reflects the immense complexity of the political and cultural history of the ancient Mediterranean, from the late Republic to the age of Augustine.

This book collects studies of the social, cultural, and religious history of the Jews in the Graeco-Roman world. The sixteen contributors--some specialists in Jewish history, others in classical studies--tackle the extent to which Jews in this period differed from other peoples in the Mediterranean region, and how much Jewish evidence can be used for the history of the wider classical world.

This is a controversial and important new examination of the origins of Christian mission, set against the background of ancient Judaism and the pagan culture of the Roman Empire. The author invites a total reconsideration of the grounds for religious conversion in both Christianity and Judaism. He suggests that mission was not inherent to either early Judaism or Christianity, and was only sporadically practiced in antiquity by these religions. Clear, accessible, and displaying considerable scholarship, this book will provide an important challenge and a stimulus to both theologians and...

This book collects studies of the social, cultural, and religious history of the Jews in the Graeco-Roman world. The sixteen contributors--some specialists in Jewish history, others in classical studies--tackle the extent to which Jews in this period differed from other peoples in the Mediterranean region, and how much Jewish evidence can be used for the history of the wider classical world.

Goodman examines the background of the AD 66 Judean revolt against Rome. He attempts to explain both the rebellion itself and its temporary success by discussing the role of the Jewish ruling class in the sixty years preceding the war and in the independent state that lasted until AD 70. The author shows that the revolt's ultimate cause was a misunderstanding by Rome of the status criteria of Jewish society.

The German humanist Johann Reuchlin (1455-1522) defended the value of Jewish scholarship and literature when it was unwise and unpopular to do so. As G. Lloyd Jones points out, "A marked mistrust of the Jews had developed among Christian scholars during the later Middle Ages. It was claimed that the rabbis had purposely falsified the text of the Old Testament and given erroneous explanations of passages which were capable of a christological interpretation." Christian scholars most certainly did not advocate learning the Hebrew language. Reuchlin was exceptional in pursuing and promoting...

Judaism in the Roman World deals with the religious lives of Jews in the Roman world from late Second Temple times to the Later Roman Empire. *** The studies collected here analyse a series of issues important in the development of Judaism in this period: the role of the Temple and pilgrimage in the first century CE; the attitude of Jews to the physical texts of the Torah and to the scribes who produced them; the extent of variety and change within Judaism before and after 70 CE and the nature of the evidence for particular types of Judaism; the role of synagogues and images in Jewish...

A magisterial history of the titanic struggle between the Roman and Jewish worlds that led to the destruction of Jerusalem.
Martin Goodman equally renowned in Jewish and in Roman studies examines this conflict, its causes, and its consequences with unprecedented authority and thoroughness. He delineates the incompatibility between the cultural, political, and religious beliefs and practices of the two peoples and explains how Rome's interests were served by a policy of brutality against the Jews. At the same time, Christians began to distance themselves from their origins, becoming...

In the second century A.D., Galilee fostered the formation of rabbinic Judaism. The society that flourished there has laid its mark on Judaism ever since, and it is a society that can be fully described through a large corpus of rabbinic writings.

This is an examination of Jewish society and administration in Galilee in the time between the Bar Kokhba war and the proclamation of universal Roman citizenship in CE 212. It offers an overview of the customs and structure of a village society, and the rabbinical authority.